The Mostly Invisible Boy by AJ Vanderhorst

Author:AJ Vanderhorst [Vanderhorst, AJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fiction
Publisher: INtense Publications LLC
Published: 2020-04-16T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 37:

Daylight Problems

FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE HE’D started sleeping in trees, Casey didn’t rise and shine. As the sun got hot, he put his pillow on his head. It only made him sweat.

He kicked off his blanket and sat. His tailbone ached, his right hand was swollen, and one hip creaked. Casey stared into space, feeling cranky. He’d been thinking about something hopeful as he fell asleep, something that would probably seem stupid now…

That was it. Ms. Crake. Stupid.

Fingers snapped near his face. “Are you asleep sitting up?”

Luciana sat in her sleeping bag, pulling back her wild hair. Her bottom lip was less fat and her cuts were scabbing, but she looked like Casey felt—a little worse for wear.

The sleeping bag between them wriggled like a caterpillar.

“I can’t get out,” said a muffled voice.

“You’re at the wrong end,” Casey said.

The caterpillar bulged in the middle, and Gloria’s head appeared.

“Phew,” she said. “It was getting hot.”

All around, kids were stretching, yawning, folding up blankets and sleeping bags. Casey, Gloria, and Luci joined a crowd that streamed toward the storage lockers. Standing in line, Casey felt eyes on his back. He turned. Robert held a finger to his lips and mouthed, Talk later.

Casey nodded groggily. What could they possibly have to talk about?

Ms. Crake stood at the front of the line, checking names on her clipboard. “Mason…Graham…baby girl Grimes, hi there, sweetie…West…slightly-lucky Grimes…”

“I’m starting to feel a little jealous,” Luci said.

A few minutes later, Ms. Crake limped to the crow’s nest. At the top of the ladder, she cleared her throat.

“Listen up!” she yelled. “I know you’re all worried about Kimmie Blake and the monster attack. Good news from the infirmary! Kimmie is paralyzed…” Kids gasped and groaned. “But she’ll recover the use of her arms and legs in a few days. Good news from the battlefront, too. A vanguard of…” Crake glanced at her clipboard. “…one hundred and eighty-four skrabbits was decimated last night. No casualties.”

Kids pumped their fists and cheered.

“Unfortunately,” Ms. Crake said, “other skrabbit detachments are maintaining their positions on the Civilian border, so your parents won’t be coming home quite yet. But they’re doing a great job.” She lowered her clipboard. “Breakfast in an hour.”

Crake has clout, Casey thought. The kind of person who could help him and Gloria if she wanted. But asking her for help would mean admitting who he was. What if she hated Civilians? What if she hated cousin impersonators?

Casey shook his head to clear it. He needed a break from thinking.

He started down the ladder behind Gloria and Luci. Snatches of conversation drifted through the leaves.

“Clueless Civilians…”

“We fight the monsters, they just live their lives.”

Casey focused on the Big Beech’s swaying limbs. He pictured new arms grabbing more of the sky. His vision swirled green and brown—leaves unfolding, waving, fading when he looked away. But something seemed a little off. Too much brown, too many bare branches. Was the tree sick? He reached out to touch an imaginary limb and caught himself.

Get a grip, man.

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